Yu-Cheng Chang’s solo home run off the videoboard in left field in the seventh inning broke a 4-4 tie and propelled the Hillcats to a 5-4 victory at Five County Stadium Sunday afternoon.
Yu-Chang Chang’s solo home run to lead off the seventh finally gave the Hillcats the lead for good after Carolina tied the score on three different occasions before that. It marked Chang’s fourth home run of the year and raised his slugging percentage to .489, which ranks third on the team.
The Hillcats took their first lead of the contest in the opening stanza when Yu-Cheng Chang reached on a two-out error and came around to score on an RBI single by Mike Papi. However, Carolina answered immediately with a two-out RBI from Ryan Gebhardt.
Lynchburg again claimed the lead in the second inning. David Armendariz tripled in his first at-bat as a Hillcat. Sicnarf Loopstok was hit by a pitch and stole second base. Loopstok is 4-4 in stolen base attempts this year and 9-10 in his career.Claudio Bautista drove both runners in with a line-drive single to right field to push Lynchburg to a 3-1 advantage. Carolina responded with two runs in the home half, including an RBI double by Reed Harper, to even the score, 3-3.
Lynchburg moved ahead for the third time of the afternoon in the fifth thanks to some defensive miscues. Chang reached on an error, and a second error allowed him to advance to scoring position. With one out in the frame, Paul Hendrix singled to center field to bring home Chang. Hendrix finished the game 2-4. Chang scored three of the Hillcats’ five runs despite a 1-5 day at the plate.
Reed Harper knotted the score again in the sixth with a double to score Erison Mendez from first. Harper went 3-4 with three doubles, two RBIs and a run scored.
Jordan Milbrath earned his second save of the season with two scoreless innings of relief that included four strikeouts. He preserved the win for Nick Pasquale, who received his first victory at the Advanced-A level. Sean Brady did not factor into the decision even though he left with a 4-3 lead after five innings. Brady struck out five and only walked one, giving up three runs on eight hits.
Carlos Salazar (1-1) entered the game with an 0.69 ERA and an opponents’ batting average of .073, but Chang took him deep to left to give him his first loss in 2016.
Lynchburg is 15-5 when a Hillcat hits a home run…The ‘Cats have a league-best 30 homers…Lynchburg has hit 21 of its 30 home runs on the road.
Justus Sheffield (3-1, 3.28) will take the mound for Lynchburg in search of a series victory over Carolina Monday night at 7 p.m.Fans can listen to the action on 93.3 FM and 1320 AM as well as www.lynchburg-hillcats.com, beginning with the Hillcats On-Deck Show at 6:45 p.m.
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Chris Graham
